I read an article today that compared the different webmail services Gmail, outlook.com and yahoo (-> link). Nice one, which, however, can be improved on one point: it states that mobile availability of outlook.com is limited to Windows Phone and a not too great app for android. This is not correct (except the part about the Android app): outlook.com (as well as hotmail and the related MS domains) is in fact supported natively on these devices, via the Exchange ActiveSync setup, and includes not only mail, but also calendar and contacts.
Here is how to set it up on Android devices:
- In the ‘Settings’ list, select ‘Accounts & sync’ and then ‘Add an account’
- Select type ‘Exchange ActiveSync’ or ‘Corporate’ (name depends on the Android flavor – those are the twos that I have encountered on HTC Sense and CyanogenMod respectively)
- Select ‘Manual setup’ and enter the following:
‘Email address’ = xxx@outlook.com
‘Server address’ = m.hotmail.com (that is hotmail regardless of the domain part of the email address)
‘Domain’ = xxx@outlook.com
‘Username’ = xxx@outlook.com
‘Password’ = your password to outlook.com
‘Encrypted SSL connection’ should be checked - Tab ‘Next’ and select data to synchronize and update settings
- Tab ‘Next’ and assign a name to the account and indicate if it is the default mail account
- Done
An illustrated guide is also available here at komodocontacts.com: -> link.
I have done this on Android versions Gingerbread, ICS and Jellybean, with Samsung, HTC, MIUI or CyanogenMod flavor, and it always works without problems. I even did it once for a friend iPhone too, and expect it to work on iPad as well.
Since the outlook.com mail/calendar/contact services also work with the free Windows live Mail, Windows 8, Outlook 2010 (with connector plugin) and Outlook 2013; this service really ties things together.
Regarding the outlook.com app for Android, it is worth considering for the calendar synchronization. Setting up Exchange ActiveSync will synchronize the standard calendar, but it does not include special calendars like holidays, birthdays or shared calendars. This will work if the outlook.com app is set up (which means that the standard calendar becomes available twice, so one of them should be hidden). Synchronizing contact data with this app should be avoided, since it only includes synchronize name fields. The mail experience is similar to the Web client, but I tend to disable the notifications and use the standard mail application instead.